Book review: Beyond Skill: Institutions, Organisations and Human Capability

Abstract

In this long awaited biography, John Kelly attempts to shed some light on the life of one of the most important figures in British industrial relations who, with a handful of others, shaped both its intellectual and political direction. A note of caution, however: this is not a classical biography, and the reader who expects to learn about the personal life of Allan Flanders, about his childhood, his relationship with his parents and partners, or about his social life in general, will be disappointed. The sole focus of this biographic sketch is the intellectual life of the man himself, his development from a Leninist revolutionary in the 1920s to a centre-right social democrat reformist in the 1950s and 1960s and the influence he exerted on British industrial relations thinking and practice. It is, therefore, understandable that the narration begins from 1928, 18 years after Flanders's birth, when he first came in contact with the Internationaler Sozialistischer Kampfbund (ISK-or Militant Socialist International, MSI), a small revolutionary socialist organization that would leave an indelible mark on his thought. In the course of nine chapters, Kelly describes in much detail the forces that shaped Flanders's thought and work, with due reference to the political and social background of his era. The narration is chronological, starting from the late 1920s and the years Flanders spent in the MSI training school, to the 1970s and his involvement in the reform of British industrial relations institutions. His years in Germany, and his acquaintance with the MSI leader Leonard Nelson's ethical socialist philosophy, would prove fundamental for his later development. Although on his return to Britain he gradually abandoned the group's Leninist orientation and adopted a strict anti-Marxist and anti-USSR stance, the moral bases of Nelson's teachings would accompany him forever. Evidence of this early training, for instance, could be found in his industrial relations work and in his general conceptualization of social reality. Although not explicitly described as such by Kelly, one is left with the impression that Flanders was a passionate person, with firm beliefs on some matters and an equally firm dismissal towards people and ideas that did not conform to his worldview. A dreamer, naive in some ways-especially in his interpretations of the political situation-sensitive, and driven by a morality that balanced on the fringes between ethics and metaphysics, he did not seem to have been able to penetrate the harsh realities of political life. His almost Book reviews